ADULT ACTIVITY IDEAS FOR SCREEN-FREE WEEKS

Celebrated each year during the first week of May, it began in 2010, with the first such week being called TV Turnoff Week. Today, however, because there are so many more screens we deal with on a weekly basis – such as smart phones, tablets, and TVs to utilise the ever-growing home streaming services, all of which have boomed in popularity and usage over the past decade – it’s called Screen-Free Week.

Henry Labalme and Matt Pawa created TV Turnoff Week in 1994, as they believed a healthy childhood depends on the idea of ‘play.’ Like many of us, they believed through creative play, children explore their physical world, build

More UNIQUE ideas for how to spend your Screen-Free Week: their curiosity, and expand their imaginations. However, Screen-Free Week has now become just as relevant to adults, regarding so many more people now working from home then 30 years ago. Since 1998, the number of people that regularly work from home in the UK has increased by 2.73 million after the number of remote workers reached 5.6 million in 2020. This is a staggering statistic, and implies (at least in most cases) working with a computer-related device, therefore a screen. Today, more than ever, we need Screen-Free Week, so here are our top picks of activities to either rediscover or try for the first time, in place of using digital screens.

◊ Take up (or rediscover) a meditation technique that works for you.

◊ Bird watching, as it alleviates anxieties and generates calm.

◊ Enjoy a spa day with friends.

◊ Cosplay, either with friends or alone, because at the end of the day, it’s fun, so why not?!

◊ Thrill sports, such as skydiving, bungee jumping, or water skiing.

◊ Surfing, since it’s something anyone of all ages can do, even if you’re inexperienced.

◊ Find unique recipes you’ve never tried before, and cook them at home.

◊ Write a collection of poems for yourself through which to reflect on yourself and life.

◊ Go on a roadtrip, using only paper maps like the good old days.

◊ Embark on an interior design project for either your or someone else’s home.

◊ Landscape your garden, or decorate your balcony with plants and flowers.

◊ Volunteer and expand your work experience and people skills.

Common activities for the evenings and weekends:

Reading Sewing

Knitting Board games

Jigsaws

Painting

Listing to and composing music

Exercise (either indoors or outdoors)